Phelios / フェリオス (Arcade, 1988) - Hard Mode 1CC - 717,810 (1440p 60fps)

"Apollo! I still remember those days..."
Once upon a time, when Pegasus was flying, Princess Artemis was captured by Typhon. Typhon used Medusa to turn her body to stone in his Temple. Prince Apollo rode Pegasus to save Artemis.

A simple shmup but one that I have always had a fondness for ever since the Sega Genesis port. It's tough but with some practice and memorization you'll get through all right. This is the arcade version, which is quite different than the Genny port. The game has a very adventurous and epic scope, as befitting its Greek mythology trappings! I love all the different stage gimmicks and the rousing music (Artemis' theme being one of my all time favorites).

Your charge shot is really key; your normal shot doesn't do much damage. The two deaths in this run are almost mandatory. At max rank, the fire giant Antaeus is practically unbeatable. Likewise with the final boss, Typhon. Dying lowers the rank/difficulty massively, and that includes boss health. Both bosses are likely to kill you, so (as another player told me) just steel yourself, learn to accept death, and try again! They'll get weaker, and hopefully you'll get better.

To get a world record score in this game, you need to kill yourself right as Typhon explodes and redo the fight for as many lives as you have. Those red orbs he shoots out are worth quite a lot.

00:00 - Intro
01:03 - Stage 1
03:23 - Medusa
04:25 - Stage 2
07:46 - The Graeae Sisters
08:58 - Stage 3
10:51 - Siren
12:19 - Stage 4
14:43 - Antaeus the Giant
17:10 - Stage 5
19:16 - Scylla
20:22 - Stage 6
22:45 - Cerberus
23:28 - Stage 7
27:15 - Final Boss: Typhon
29:38 - Ending and Credits